Men in Black: International

Undoubtedly the worst of the Men in Black movies, Men in Black: International follows mismatched partners Agent M (Tessa Thompson) and Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) as they attempt to stop vicious, shape-shifting aliens from executing a dastardly plan involving world domination. It’s clear immediately that filmmaker F. Gary Gray is looking to replicate the style and tone of the first three installments, but, as becomes clear, the director’s aggressively slick approach to the bland material results in a progressively tedious (and flat-out exhausting) misfire that’s a far cry from Barry Sonnenfeld’s comparatively masterful work on the series. Men in Black: International‘s failure is especially disappointing given the massive potential afforded by the previously-established universe, with the picture instead delivering a generic, going-through-the-motions atmosphere that’s exacerbated by a complete lack of compelling elements (eg even Thompson and Hemsworth, charming as they may be, prove unable to transform their thinly-written characters into interesting, three-dimensional figures). By the time the special-effects-heavy and increasingly intolerable final stretch rolls around, Men in Black: International has cemented its place as a seriously misbegotten followup that probably (hopefully) spells the end of this now irrelevant franchise.

* out of ****